An undersea rail tunnel beneath the Tsugaru Strait connecting the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, opened in 1988 after difficult construction that included flooding and a work stoppage during the 1973 oil crisis. It carries dual-gauge track for both standard-gauge Shinkansen and narrow-gauge freight trains, which is why Shinkansen services cannot run at their full design speed inside it.
Facts
Completion Year SignificanceThe world's longest undersea tunnel by total length and the deepest railway tunnel below sea level, second only to Switzerland's Gotthard Base Tunnel in overall main-line railway tunnel length. 1 Connections
Operated By
Why this is disputed. Japanese National Railways planned and began the tunnel, but JNR was privatised in 1987, a year before the tunnel opened in 1988, so operation passed to its Hokkaido and East Japan successor companies at opening. Recorded against JNR for continuity with this atlas's existing JNR entity; a successor-company edge is a fair repair for whichever lane next works the networks axis.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Seikan Tunnel
WikipediaCurrent operations
Because the tunnel is shared with freight trains, Shinkansen services cannot operate at their full design speed within it.
Construction
Arduous construction in difficult geological conditions proceeded despite multiple challenges including drilling difficulties, tunnel floodings, and the 1973 oil crisis.
Introduction, current operator
The Seikan Tunnel forms part of the standard-gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen as well as the narrow-gauge Kaikyo Line operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido).
In Group: Rail Tunnels, Lead sentence
segment running beneath the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on Honshu, Japan's main island, from the northern island of Hokkaido.
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